The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to a sensor placed on a mucosal tissue used for measuring physiological parameters of a patient.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of medicine, doctors often desire to monitor certain physiological characteristics of their patients. Accordingly, a wide variety of devices have been developed for monitoring many such characteristics of a patient. Such devices provide doctors and other healthcare personnel with the information they need to provide the best possible healthcare for their patients. As a result, such monitoring devices have become an indispensable part of modern medicine.
In some instances, physicians may wish to have information about the clinical state of tissues that are not easily accessible, such as gastrointestinal tissue. For example, clinicians may wish to assess certain parameters of gastrointestinal tissue to determine whether a patient is in shock. Shock is a clinical syndrome characterized by decreased blood flow to the capillary beds. This condition typically occurs when arterial pressure and subsequently tissue blood flow decrease to a degree that the amount of delivered oxygen is inadequate to meet the metabolic needs of the tissue. During shock, the body directs blood to the heart and the brain, often at the expense of relatively less important organs such as the liver, skin, muscle, and gut. Prolonged shock may result in ischemia in tissues that have experienced diminished blood flow for a sufficient length of time. Ischemia in the gut may disrupt the normal intestinal barrier function, resulting in gut-derived bacteria and their endotoxins being able to move from the gut into other organs via the blood. This, in turn, may lead to toxemia or sepsis. Therefore, early detection of gut tissue damage may prevent the onset of shock or organ failure.
As prolonged gut hypoperfusion typically precedes gut ischemia, early detection of perfusion failure in the gut may prevent widespread tissue damage and may also reduce the incidence of toxemia or sepsis. Accordingly, physicians have developed methods for assessing hypoperfusion in the gut. However, these methods are associated with certain disadvantages. For example, assessing the hypoperfusion of gastrointestinal tissue by impedance spectroscopy may provide clinical information regarding shock, mucosal perfusion, or ischemia. This procedure involves insertion of an intestinal catheter, which is labor-intensive for a clinician to perform and uncomfortable for patients. An alternative technique uses an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) sensor to detect PCO2 in the gastric wall, which also correlates to the onset of shock. However, this technique is also invasive and involves direct contact with the gut.
Accordingly, a reliable, noninvasive monitor for gut perfusion failure may improve the diagnosis and management of patients with gut ischemia.